Katelijne Boerma, mayor of the bicycle in Amsterdam
Cities around the world celebrate this April 19 World Bicycle Day . They do it with all kinds of activities, although some - at the moment none of them are Spanish - have gone a step further a long time ago.
Rio de Janeiro, New Hampshire, Sydney, Baroda, Lebanon, Keene, Mexico City, Sao Paulo and, of course, ** Amsterdam ,** have been counting on their “bicycle mayor” . He is not a figure that we normally find in town halls, but he was born to face and represent urban cyclists, promote this transport and seek solutions to achieve better and more sustainable mobility.
The initiative started just two years ago in Amsterdam, a city that has 880,000 bicycles and 400 kilometers of marked lanes . There, 58% of the population moves daily with this transport and together they travel - attention - 2 million kilometers a day!
Katelijne Boerma she was elected to this position in November 2017. She is the second to hold the position in the Dutch city and in Traveler.es we have spoken with her to know a little more about her work and goals.
The bike as a way of life
And it is that, although we often think of Amsterdam as an “ideal world” for cyclists It hasn't always been like this. In fact, before the second world war, this was one of the main modes of transport, but in the 1970s the automotive boom left tragic consequences in the streets.
Only in 1971, More than 3,000 people were killed by cars in Amsterdam, 450 were children . And at that very moment an important battle of associations and movements began to promote and protect the use of bicycles , with demonstrations, traffic cuts and other protest actions that over time – and the impact of the oil price crisis – managed to maintain the use of this transport.
Now, in the 21st century, the challenges continue: "We - Katelijne explains - have our own obstacles to overcome, because cycling is extremely popular here . There is not enough space, so you have to continue investing in infrastructure and also parking. All this while we continue to think about how to innovate”.
For her mandate, she has three clear objectives: “ I want children to cycle more and feel safer (she has three children) . I want people to use this transport more to get around and I also want to show that the bicycle can help people to connect in a positive way with the city”.
Promote the use of the bicycle from an early age, another of the objectives of these mayors
She does it voluntarily – she tells us – but she has a team of people who help her in this campaign. Among them is BYCS , an organization that works internationally to develop ideas and solutions “ towards more people-centric cities ”.
They say that " bicycles make cities smarter, healthier and happier ” and they are sure that in 2030 half – yes, yes, half – of trips in cities will be precisely with this transport. “The main problem is that people believe that technology is only in new things, but we think that the bicycle is an invention from 200 years ago that can surely help us create a better future for humanity ”.
THE FIRST JUNIOR MAYOR OF THE BICYCLE
In Amsterdam the next step is clear, and they are already working to find the first bicycle mayor among the youngest . Many children go to school on this transport and they represent an important part of the traffic.
“We are looking for children who ride their bicycles to school, who love to do so – Katelijne tells us - and have good ideas to make this fun and safe . We call these boys Heroes of the bicycle, and we will summon them one day to a meeting to elect the representative of all of them”.
BICYCLE MAYORS AROUND THE WORLD
Meanwhile, more and more cities around the world are joining this initiative. capetown (in South Africa) and Bengaluru (in India) will be the next to join the list, although from BYCS they would like that Madrid, Barcelona or Valencia will also join the project.
At the moment, from June 12 to 15 a new edition of the Veil-City , one of the most important conferences on urban mobility. There, different cities will explain their experience and encourage many more to opt for initiatives like this one..
ONE LAST CURIOSITY
Did you know that today's event is celebrated coinciding with the day that Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann first tried LSD which he himself had discovered ? He worked as a researcher in the Sandoz Laboratories, in Basel, and after taking 250 micrograms of this drug - on April 19, 1943 - he decided to return home precisely by bicycle and thus experienced all its effects. The celebration of this day was not his thing, of course, and in fact it was not established until years later. It was in 1985, when a professor at Northern Illinois University, Thomas B. Roberts, established "Bicycle day" and began to spread the initiative that is celebrated today in many cities around the world.
London, will you have a future bicycle mayor or a future mayor?